Why Did I Get Married? Review
by Michael Dequina (themoviereport AT gmail DOT com)October 14th, 2007
_Why_Did_I_Get_Married?_ (PG-13) *** (out of ****)
Ignore the "Tyler Perry's" possessory
attached to the title on the advertising or that
the writer/director/co-star is one of the more
prominently featured faces in the campaign--_Why_Did_I_Get_Married?_, while based
on one of Perry's popular stage productions,
displays a heretofore unseen sense of realism and
maturity that marks a major step forward for the
multimedia hyphenate-mogul. While delivering the
mix of laughs, tears, and spirituality his
ever-loyal fanbase has come to expect from him on
stage and on screen, this ensemble look at four
marriages has universal heart and soul that would
speak to a much wider audience.
This is not to say that certain elements
of the film are what one would call "typical"
Perry, particularly in the thread involving the
very unhappily married Mike (Richard T. Jones)
and Sheila (Jill Scott). This story of a woman
trapped in a very dysfunctional relationship more
than recalls similar plotlines in
_Diary_of_a_Mad_Black_Woman_ and
_Madea's_Family_Reunion_, and it is in this plot
thread that Perry's penchant for broadly-drawn,
gospel play strokes not surprisingly comes
through. In fact, the callous Mike is so
relentless in his verbal abuse of Sheila and her
less-than-model figure that one cannot help but
repeatedly ask the title question in regards to
him; not helping matters is that Perry fails to
include even a single throwaway line offering the
barest minimal explanation as to how he got
involved with her (let alone *married* her) in
the first place. But bringing the more
hyperbolic notes down to earth are the actors, in
particularly the radiant and irresistible Scott;
heartbreaking and completely effortless in
vacillating from the character's heartache and
the more playful and confident side that emerges
with the entrance of the upstanding Troy (Lamman
Rucker), Scott shows that she has future in film
to match her existing music success. Even in
more thankless parts, the actors are able to
bring more to the material. The role of Mike is
the most one-note in the entire film, but Jones
runs with that note to maximum intended effect,
plus he is able to sell the turns the character
takes in the late going, however expected and
contrived they may be; on the flip side, Rucker
makes the designated Perry "ideal man" more real
and less archetype. As Trina, the woman who
finally sets into motion the clean break between
Sheila and Mike, Denise Boutté has the least work
with in the whole ensemble, but her striking
presence makes up for what's missing on the page.
Trina remaining a gorgeous cipher works
for grand design, for what she represents--as
opposed to who or what exactly she actually may
be--is what causes Mike and Sheila's other
married friends to question their own unions
after she crashes the four couples' annual
get-together/retreat. With his more
characteristic black-and-white concerns addressed
in the Mike/Sheila storyline, Perry is free to
explore more varied and true-to-life shades of
grey with the three other relationships. He kind
of plays with his own offscreen image as a
moralist by casting himself as physician Terry, a
straight-laced type married to workaholic career
woman Dianne (Sharon Leal); while she is rather
selfishly driven--the extent to which is revealed
as the film goes on--her motivations remain
understandable, not to mention Terry makes
decisions that are not so much righteous than
*self*-righteous. At the center of the cluster
of stormy relationships are psychologist Patricia
(Janet Jackson) and Gavin (Malik Yoba), but their
outward veneer of stability proves to be less for
outsiders' benefit than their own, as Patricia's
need for control and order has led to icy
repression. Lest the proceedings seem too heavy,
there is the live wire pairing of brash, boozy
Angela (Tasha Smith) and the philandering Marcus
(Michael Jai White), a raucous pair so imperfect
that they only make a perfect kind of sense together.
Given the outspoken nature of her
character, it's no surprise that Smith gets all
the best lines, and while she drops her zingers
with precision timing, she handily walks away
with the film by also making Angela's sincere
side believable, particularly her genuine concern
for her friends, children, and (ultimately)
husband. That Smith is far and away the scene-
and movie-stealer in no way discounts the others'
efforts. White more than holds his own against
the sparkling Smith, displaying a winning comic
knack he too rarely gets the opportunity to
display. Even at Dianne's most unpleasant, Leal
keeps her relatable and likable, reminding of the
tightrope that Eva Longoria walks weekly as a
similarly vain character on
_Desperate_Housewives_ (an apropos analogy, as
this movie's dramedy soap take on marriage more
than reminds that series--not to give to give
Perry any ideas for future projects). Jackson is
cannily cast, her natural reserve a good fit for
a refined, repressed character, and she pulls
through in her big dramatic moments; much like
how Gavin is the rock in his marriage, Yoba
provides a nice steadying force for the film with
his understated turn. Perry may not match the
gravitas others can bring to their parts, but he
does prove there's more to his ability than donning drag and/or old age makeup.
Perry has been such a target for critics
that it would be naïve to think that the obvious
progress he makes with _Why_Did_I_Get_Married?_
will win over his many vocal detractors, even in
part. But what this film should be able to do is
win over a new, expanded audience previously
unfamiliar with any of his work on stage, screen,
television, or the page. Perry's ultimate
message here (and there is one, it being a Perry
film, after all) is not exactly new--any
relationship that is worth salvaging (an
important distinction) requires a constant give
and take for the good of the union and not the
individual, and the first step is simple openness
and honesty, to each other and to oneself--but he
places it in an entertaining, well-performed
package that hence makes it connect all more strongly to the masses at large.
(c)2007 Michael Dequina
Michael Dequina
[email protected]
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